**Edward O. Keith**

16 October 1951 – 14 September 2012

The co-editor of this book, Dr. Edward O. Keith, died shortly before it was published. He had been battling with cancer but his death came as a surprise to me because the last time we had spoken, Ed told me that he was recovering and that "everything is fine."

Ed was born in Berkeley, California. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Wildlife Biology and his master's degree in Physiology and Biophysics from Colorado State University in 1975 and 1978, respectively. He went on to obtain his doctoral degree in Biology in 1984 from the University of California at Santa Cruz, one of the prime academic institutions when it comes to marine mammals research.

He moved to Miami, FL, in 1989, and held faculty positions at the University of Miami and Southeastern University of the Health Sciences, which became Nova Southeastern University. He was an associate professor at the Oceanographic Center of that institution by the time of his death. He taught numerous courses not only on marine mammalogy but also in biochemistry, physiology, and related subjects.

He was known as a well-prepared, accessible teacher and received a Teacher of the Year Award for the 1994-1995 academic year. His research centered on pinnipeds and he was an active member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, in which I shared duties with him in the Education Committee. He published numerous peer-reviewed papers in top journals and had multiple presentations at scientific conferences, many of them co-authored with his students.

I had known Ed for almost 20 years when we met at the University of Miami (my alma mater) where he was teaching a course on marine mammalogy. He invited me to give a guest lecture in his class and since then we became good friends asking each other to participate in our respective classes. Ed was kind enough to teach with me a course on Field Marine Mammalogy that I offered for my students at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, which took place in the Bahamas in 2002.

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During some time we discussed the possibility of coauthoring a textbook on marine mammalogy. Although there were good books on marine mammal biology and marine mammal guides, we felt that given the way we were teaching our respective classes there was a need for a more comprehensive, holistic approach to the subject. That project never came to fruition so when I was invited to edit this book I asked him to co-edit it with me given that his strengths (pinnipeds, physiology, biochemistry) complemented mines (cetaceans, evolutionary biology, conservation).

Ed was not only a very competent colleague but also a great human being. He was as kindhearted as you can find. His critical contributions to this volume were also given on a tone of friendly advice to the authors while maintaining academic rigor.

Ed is survived by his wife Katrherine, his mother Berniece of Denver and two younger sisters, Ann Baalbergen of Atlanta, and Ellen Leak of Denver. He will be sorely missed.

Dr. Keith (to the right wearing a white shirt) with students during a marine mammal field course in the Bahamas in 2002. Picture by Aldemaro Romero.

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which took place in the Bahamas in 2002.

(cetaceans, evolutionary biology, conservation).

I had known Ed for almost 20 years when we met at the University of Miami (my alma mater) where he was teaching a course on marine mammalogy. He invited me to give a guest lecture in his class and since then we became good friends asking each other to participate in our respective classes. Ed was kind enough to teach with me a course on Field Marine Mammalogy that I offered for my students at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN,

During some time we discussed the possibility of coauthoring a textbook on marine mammalogy. Although there were good books on marine mammal biology and marine mammal guides, we felt that given the way we were teaching our respective classes there was a need for a more comprehensive, holistic approach to the subject. That project never came to fruition so when I was invited to edit this book I asked him to co-edit it with me given that his strengths (pinnipeds, physiology, biochemistry) complemented mines

Ed was not only a very competent colleague but also a great human being. He was as kindhearted as you can find. His critical contributions to this volume were also given on a

Ed is survived by his wife Katrherine, his mother Berniece of Denver and two younger sisters, Ann Baalbergen of Atlanta, and Ellen Leak of Denver. He will be sorely missed.

Dr. Keith (to the right wearing a white shirt) with students during a marine mammal field

course in the Bahamas in 2002. Picture by Aldemaro Romero.

tone of friendly advice to the authors while maintaining academic rigor.
